Committee reviewing euthanasia in Canada finds some deaths driven by homelessness fears, isolation

AP Medical Writer

LONDON (AP) — An expert committee reviewing euthanasia deaths in Canada’s most populous province has identified several cases where patients asked to be killed in part for social reasons such as isolation and fears of homelessness. It shows rising concerns over approvals for vulnerable people in the country’s assisted dying system. Ontario’s chief coroner issued several reports Wednesday, after an Associated Press investigation. They review euthanasia deaths of people who weren’t terminally ill. The reports are based on the committee’s analysis of anonymized cases. Canada’s legal criteria require a medical reason for euthanasia. That can be a fatal diagnosis or unmanageable pain. But the reports show cases of euthanasia based on other factors including an “unmet social need.”